Which Path is right for me: school psychology or clinical psychology

[miaboo23]

Hi,
so I am currently a senior in undergrad. I am a double major in Spanish and Psychology. At first I wanted to be a school psychologist because I like being in a school setting. when i learned that if I get my Ph.D in school psychology I could also do research on the side, that made me even more interested.
But I've realized I like working with older people. I've volunteered and did internships with children and it's okay but it's not a passion of mine. I would rather work with university students and up. I enjoy the idea of diagnosing people more than helping them with learning abilities and I think that is difficult to do with children. So based on what I've said, do you think I should go to grad school for school psychology or clinical psychology?
I plan on getting my doctorate no matter which path I choose

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[wtfook]

Go with the population you enjoy working with. If you've found you're not as interested in working with school aged children than college aged and up, then the answer appears to be pretty clear. School psychologists work in schools with school aged children. Don't go that route if there are other populations you prefer to work with.

 

[psych.meout]

If you still like a school setting, maybe you should go with a counseling program. You could work at a university counseling center and help college students with their problems and issues.

 

[modestmousktr]

Hi,
so I am currently a senior in undergrad. I am a double major in Spanish and Psychology. At first I wanted to be a school psychologist because I like being in a school setting. when i learned that if I get my Ph.D in school psychology I could also do research on the side, that made me even more interested.
But I've realized I like working with older people. I've volunteered and did internships with children and it's okay but it's not a passion of mine. I would rather work with university students and up. I enjoy the idea of diagnosing people more than helping them with learning abilities and I think that is difficult to do with children. So based on what I've said, do you think I should go to grad school for school psychology or clinical psychology?
I plan on getting my doctorate no matter which path I choose

If you aren't entirely sure, don't marry yourself to school psych. My understanding is that it is exclusively Pre-K through 12. If you did counseling or clinical psychology, you could work with that age population, or adults, or both. Your role may also vary slightly, as you focus on different skill sets.

I love working with adolescents, but I love working with them on suicidality, trauma, substance abuse, ODD/Conduct disorders, etc. I am working in a correctional facility for juveniles right now which is perfect. We have some school psychs on our team, and they do great work with our youth, but it's vastly different from what I or the other doctoral practicum students and psychologists do.

Your interests may continue to grow as you develop professionally, so if you aren't certain, I would suggest a more general program.

I'm not in school psych so please take my advice with a grain of salt! It could help to hear from someone in that type of program or with that degree.

 

[SaraLance]

School psych here. At the doctoral level, you're not limited to working in a school setting or even with children. However, it is more difficult to get into other settings than say clinical psycs. If you go the school route, I would recommend tailoring your practicum experiences as much as possible to expand your scope of practice (e.g., different age groups, settings, different experiences - therapy, assessment, etc). My program allowed for some flexibility, but I don't know that all programs are like that. While I think being school psych gave me a skillset that I feel that counseling and clinicals don't have, I did need to supplement my training throughout the process with things that they get more heavily than school psychology (e.g., counseling/process type of things, exclusively therapy practicums/postdoc). When I got to the postdoctoral level, I did feel that I was as skilled as my clinical psyc postdoc counterparts; some of that is due to my program and some of that is a result of the experiences I got. If you go through a school psych program with practicums, internship, and postdoc in a school setting, it will be near impossible to get into any other setting.

I was fortunate to have a flexible program and have been in schools, college counseling centers, disability support centers (counseling and consultation for disability manifestation/limitations), and community mental health. I recently accepted an offer as a general psychologist at a hospital, which would have been impossible if I had followed the traditional school psyc training sequence.

Honestly, I would recommend counseling or clinical; both have more flexibility. I've also seen clinicians with both degrees providing school-based mental health through local agencies/private practices. The only question for you is how much you like assessment. School psychology in the school setting is an assessment role that will only be filled by someone with a school psyc degree. I would say that a good medium would be getting a master's in school psychology then doctorate in clinical or counseling; that would open up everything. Though admittedly, that might take longer. If I was deciding again and had to do it all over, I would do clinical.

 

[miaboo23]

School psych here. At the doctoral level, you're not limited to working in a school setting or even with children. However, it is more difficult to get into other settings than say clinical psycs. If you go the school route, I would recommend tailoring your practicum experiences as much as possible to expand your scope of practice (e.g., different age groups, settings, different experiences - therapy, assessment, etc). My program allowed for some flexibility, but I don't know that all programs are like that. While I think being school psych gave me a skillset that I feel that counseling and clinicals don't have, I did need to supplement my training throughout the process with things that they get more heavily than school psychology (e.g., counseling/process type of things, exclusively therapy practicums/postdoc). When I got to the postdoctoral level, I did feel that I was as skilled as my clinical psyc postdoc counterparts; some of that is due to my program and some of that is a result of the experiences I got. If you go through a school psych program with practicums, internship, and postdoc in a school setting, it will be near impossible to get into any other setting.

I was fortunate to have a flexible program and have been in schools, college counseling centers, disability support centers (counseling and consultation for disability manifestation/limitations), and community mental health. I recently accepted an offer as a general psychologist at a hospital, which would have been impossible if I had followed the traditional school psyc training sequence.

Honestly, I would recommend counseling or clinical; both have more flexibility. I've also seen clinicians with both degrees providing school-based mental health through local agencies/private practices. The only question for you is how much you like assessment. School psychology in the school setting is an assessment role that will only be filled by someone with a school psyc degree. I would say that a good medium would be getting a master's in school psychology then doctorate in clinical or counseling; that would open up everything. Though admittedly, that might take longer. If I was deciding again and had to do it all over, I would do clinical.

Thank you so much for your answer, it was very helpful